The Infection
by consultingarmydoctor
Summary: On July 25th an infection sweeps across the world turning humans into something new and deadly. John Watson fights for survival on the ever changing planet.   Johnlock later so don't read if you'll be offended! Please review
1. Chapter 1

I was 17 when the infection broke out. It started slowly, creeping across the world. Silently invading our lives. For months nothing happened, and anything that did was kept very quite. Only the occasional whisper or mysterious sighting. A lot of people didn't believe in it. They said it was just stories, a fake. Just another disease that was never going to harm anyone and had been made to seem worse than it was. Until the day the world began to end the whole of humanity watched as it began to break away. July 25th, an attack happened. It was a mass attack, larger than anyone had ever seen. It was no longer a singular backstreet attack which was cleaned up before the media could stick their nose in.

24 people were turned, out in the open, full media coverage. People watched through their TV screens at peoples life being sucked away from them and replaced with a disease, a virus, The Infection. There was wide spread panic, it changed the way people moved, thought and felt. It changed the way people lived. The infection spread wider and wider tearing its way though peoples lives ripping family's apart. The number of infected grew every day; until some days the missing, presumed infected, almost doubled in size every single day. Public areas attempted to stay open, people went crazy building basements or secure houses. Shops emptied their shelves, prices rising more and more by the day. The world began to fall in to havoc, the streets emptied and the cities became danger zones.

I was 18 when I heard my first gunfire. In school, 'ironic really' I had thought as the fast ra-ta-tat-tat echoed through the corridors, the very place I had learnt about the infection, was going to be the place I died from it. I thought I knew for sure that it would take me, along with so many others. 'They were becoming smart' they had taught us. They knew who was weak; thats why they had tried the school. Searching for new bodies, life forms to strip away and mould into something new and horrifying.

Around me people screamed. Crying and hugging each other. Some of us armed up, including me. Knives from the kitchen, deodorant cans, bulky objects, anything we could lay our hand on. The gates were locked sealing us in with our fate, we had to protect ourselves from the on coming infection. Everyone stood together, shaking with fear as we said our final goodbyes, wishing each other the best of luck. Promising to see each other on the other side. My friends, the people I had grown up with in this small little village, stood beside me as we prepared to die.

'Aim for the head' they said.

'Don't let them touch you' they said.

'Protect yourself' they said.

But I didn't die that day, some how I survived. Just.

I saw my first infected that day. They said you always remember your first and I know I do. A woman, no older than 30, white with dark brown hair. Around 5"7 average size. She wore black jeans and a blue checkered shirt. At first I didn't realize she was infected. She just stood there, motionless, her head drooped and her eyes fixated on the floor. I was about to call out to her when I noticed the trickle of blood that was escaping from the back of her neck. I nearly threw up when I saw the enormous gash at the base of her slender neck, I could see right down the to bone which stuck out white and gleaming in the sunlight. I looked at her face, her eyes were glazed over with white but behind the glaze I could see two green specks that were once filled with life and happiness. She looked sad, as if she was quite ready to break down into tears before me. But she didn't, she just stood there.

Suddenly she looked up, focusing on a singular point in front of her.

"There's one" Someone shouted

"Kill it" Another one shouted back. The revving of a machine gun started before a spray of bullets ran through the air, knocking the infected woman on to the floor. She snarled, or it sounded like a snarl, getting back up and walking towards the gunfire.

"Aim for the head" another voice screamed over the gunfire. The bullets hit the woman with an incredible force sending pieces of her scattering around the open space but she made no sign of pain. The woman just continued to stagger forwards. Until a bullet struck her skull, making a crack that exploded across the room. I'll remember that sound for the rest of my life. I watched as the woman fell to the ground, everything seemed to slow down as I watched body hit the blooded floor where she lay still, bleeding all over, the open wounds covered her skin soaking her torn clothes with blood. I turned away from the horrific sight. Knowing that I had to get away, that I'd fight till the end of my days because I could never become that.


	2. Chapter 2

A month after my school was attacked, I killed my first infected. My family was lucky, we lived in a small town out of reach from the infected which swarmed the cities. But thing's were still bad. All the shops had been long deserted and raided, supply's were acquired mostly through trading, although stealing was at an all time high. The government wasn't doing much to help the situation; word on the street was they were hiding in some specially built to protect them and the 'important people' until the infection ended. But I didn't like to just go on rumors. Secretly I hoped it wasn't true. I wanted to believe that in fact the people that were supposed to be caring for our country were working day and night searching for a solution, searching for a way to save us from the hell that our home had become. The streets were deserted and power was minimal, water fluctuated and the rumors of the infection being water borne prevented many people from drinking it straight from a tap. I was walking to a trading zone, an old warehouse where people traded every saturday.

It was then my phone rang. Phone usage was limited so we'd decided phone calls were for emergencies only. It was my younger sister Harriet who was ringing me, I stared at the screen for a moment begging for the best, hoping that mum had changed her mind and didn't want the tinned beans. In the end I answered still hoping for the best.  
>"Harry?" I asked cautiously stopping in the middle of the road, there was silence for a moment before Harry's voice came through the speaker. She was drunk, I didn't know how she got the alcohol but some how she managed it and since the infection had ravaged our school she hadn't been sober.<br>"J-j-john, Its mum..." Harry sobbed down the other end of the phone, her words slurring though the alcohol and tears. My heart skipped a beat, jumping to my throat.  
>"Harry, what is it... Whats happened to mum?" I asked, fearing the worst but hoping for the best. I begged that she was alright, that she'd just cut her self and Harry was making a big deal about it. But I knew that deep down the chances of that happening were minimal<br>"She's gone John" Harry stammered "...s-s-she's turned"  
>"Where is she Harry? Stay away from her, alright? I'm coming back!" I almost shouted down the phone as I turned back towards my house and sprinted along the deserted road keeping the phone pressed up against my ear increasing the volume so I could hear Harry as I ran.<br>"She's..." Harry sobbed "S-s-she's out the front... she went out f-f-f-for... I've locked the doors but d-d-dad..."

"What's happened to dad Harry?" I said panting as I continued to run down the cracking tarmac, the sound of my feet drumming through my ears. Not my father as well, he was a bastard but I wouldn't have the infection put on anyone, even my worse enemy. I couldn't lose them, how could I look after my little sister on my own? All this time I'd wanted to grow up, begged for more responsibility. I'd pored over my studies, I'd wanted to become a doctor. I'd filled my room with medical books and journals learning as much as I could so I could protect my small world as best as I could. I'd trained, taken night classes at my old school. Learning how best to defend myself against the infected. But now the responsibility was being thrust on my I was terrified. Realizing the phone had gone silent I asked again

"Harry, whats happened to dad?"  
>"He, he wants to go out to get her" Harry mumbled, from the other end of the<br>"Don't let him Harry, we've got to stick together yeah?" I said, trying to remain calm. I hoped Harry was in contact with her rational mind enough to realize that, I looked down at my watch. 11.30, surly she couldn't have drunk too much this morning. But knowing Harry...  
>"He's getting angry John" Harry sound scared, genuinely scared. I ran faster, I was close 2 blocks away. I could hear my father shouting from the other end of the phone, I had to be there for Harry. I had to protect my little sister. Like I always did, I couldn't leaver her in the clutches of our Father 'Faster John, You've got to run faster' I screamed to myself, tears threatened to fall down my cheeks. I wouldn't let them, couldn't let them. I had to be strong for my sister.<br>"Its alright Harry, I'm coming"  
>"John..." She said quietly, the sound of shouting on the other end of the phone got louder. Harry whimpered from the other end of the phone as a loud slap burst through the speaker.<br>"Dad, Please" I heard Harry beg, "You've got to stay inside"  
>"Don't try and tell me what to do Harriet Watson!" My father bellowed at the end of the line, "She is my wife, she'll be fine"<br>"There isn't anything you can do now Dad" Harry screamed, the anger and sadness erupted from her mouth. Some how, through her drunken mind she managed to string the words together while our Mother was outside consumed by the infection, I don't know how she did it but some how she managed through all the tears and the alcohol "The hospitals can't do anything, the army can't do anything, no one can do anything!" she continued.  
>I heard the sound of a door slamming from the other side.<p>

"Harry?" I shouted down the phone. I was so close, just down the road. 'Just a litter further John' I thought urging myself onwards. My legs ached, my heart screamed and my lungs burned, begging for air "Harry!" I shouted again  
>"He's... he's gone John. He's gone outside after her"<br>"Shut the door Harry, I'm coming"  
>"I can't John. Mum, Dad..."<br>"Shut the door!" I screamed, "There is nothing we can do" I wished I was closer, then I rounded the corner at my house came in to view, I could see the bright blue door sticking out against the others in the street. Harry and I had painted it a few years back as a joke, we wanted to be different. I smiled remembering a better time, but it was then I saw my parents. My mother crouched over a body, her eyes glazed over like the countless others that had been infected along with her. I realized then the body was that of my father, his arms still wrapped around my mother.

"Mum..." I croaked, stopping in the middle of the road "...Dad"

My dad shivered back in to life, no... back in to existence. All traces of live had been wiped from him, he was left a piece of infected meat. Nothing more, they were no longer my parents, all signs of the life they had lead was gone. They were merely hosts for the evil that made a home inside of them. My eyes stung with tears as a took a hand gun from my bag and aim at them my hands shook and my vision was blurred. Taking a deep breath in I pulled the trigger, missing the first time but shooting again and again until I heard the connection with their skull's. I blinked, wiping away the tears to see my parents on the floor, dead. All signs of life drained from them. There was nothing more I could do for them. I walked to my front door, knocking and calling my sisters name. The tears streamed down my face, she opened the door and we collapsed into each others arms. Falling softly on to the floor where we sat for a while crying before I said.

"We have to burn them"  
>"I c-c-can't" Harry stammered, the tears bubbled over her eyes.<br>"We have to... we can't risk the infection getting them again"  
>"It doesn't effect you if you're brain isn't functional"<br>"It might mutate"  
>"John..." Harry looked at me but I couldn't bring my self to look at her,<br>"It's alright Harry, got get me the petrol from under the sink" I said, finally forcing myself to look at my little sister "Then you don't have to be there if you don't want"

She nodded, getting up and stumbling back in to the house. I walked back towards my parents bodies, opening my rucksack pulling out a face mask and latex gloves. Putting them on before moving the body's closer together. I knew deep down that I had to do this, I couldn't risk two more infected adding to the list. Harry staggered out of the house, the bottle of petrol shaking in her hands. Her face was stained with tears which ran down her cheeks, her brown hair was a mess and she dragged her feet behind her as if they were tided together with chains. I took the bottle from her shaking hands emptying it over my parent's body before taking Harry's hand, stepping back. Taking the box of matches out of my pocket I lit one watching it burn for a second before flicking it on to the bodys and watching them catch alight with a soft woosh. The flames licked over the bodies, casting a orange glow in the darkening streets while the thick black smoke rose in to the air, curling in to the grey sky.


	3. Chapter 3

"We can't stay here, the smoke will attract someone" I said looking at my sister who continued to stare into the blaze, the flames reflecting off her pale blue eyes. After a few moments she tore her eyes away from the swirling smoke and bright orange flames and looked slowly up at me.  
>"Yeah..." Harry mumbled. I didn't answer, there was nothing I could say that would ease the aching in either of our hearts. I wished I could rewind time and prevent this all from happening, before the death of our parents, before Harry's drinking, before our fathers abuse, before the infection, before all of this. Back to a perfect time with my family, friends people I loved. People that had been so cruelly snatched away from me, taken in to the arms of the infection, driven mad by the loss of everything and everyone around them. I was helpless, alone apart from my drunk little sister as we watched our world burn before our very eyes. There was nothing. Nothing at all in the whole of the god damn universe. That I could do.<br>"Have you got everything you need?" I asked eventually breaking a small whole into the darkness that was spreading across our bodies, slowly invading our minds eating away at every hope in our existence. Harry nodded indicated to the dark blue rucksack on the floor beside her. We'd all bought rucksacks when the infection started and filled them with the essentials; water, food, spare clothes, matches, etc.  
>"Pick it up, lets go" I said keeping my voice steady I couldn't let my emotions break through the shell I was creating for my self. I needed to be strong, and I was going to be. For Harry. For my family.<p>

"Can't we wait?" She begged "Just a little longer"  
>"We can't Harry, someone will have seen the smoke by now. We have to leave" It had already been too long, there were people out looking for survivors. The army, snatchers, crawlers; different gangs and groups which crawled the earth looking for people to trade or to work. Harry knew that I wanted to say, why wouldn't I? How could I leave my dead parents burning in the middle of a road? But we had to leave, we had to survive, other wise they'd get us. I looked at my watch; the fire had been lit over half an hour ago. We had to move, we were too far over time already. Too late.<p>

It was then I heard the sound of trucks marching feet, the noise stuck out in the deadly silence of the surrounding streets. They'd found us, followed the black smoke that lead them straight to us. We were going to be caught.  
>"Shit, Harry! We've got to run" I shouted at her. She picked up her bag swung it over her shoulder. Grabbing her by the hand we bolted down the road, she was still a little shaky on her feet and I was forced to almost drag her down the road as she stumbled side to side.<p>

"Faster Harry, come on!" I screamed, the unmistakeable sound growing louder behind us. I knew we couldn't out run them on this stretch of road. We should have left sooner. I didn't dare turn around to see who was following us, which gang or network would decide our fate. Harry was as white as a sheet as with her free hand she clutched her stomach, then her head all the time looking as if she was on the edge of vomiting. I felt anger, why did she have to drink her life away. Times were hard for everyone, yet she had managed to get her self in all possible manner of things. The drinking had started slowly, but one day she came home plastered out of her mind and after that it was every day, every hour, she sat at home in her room collapsed on the bed a bottle of vodka at her side vomit in her hair and the tears constantly rolling down her cheeks. There was nothing we could do, no matter how hard we'd tried she always found the drink from somewhere. I pulled her hard by the hand urging her to run faster out feet hitting the hard tarmac droned out by the sound of engines and shouting. I didn't dare glance back at our followers. I couldn't bare to look at the faces of those who could control the rest of our lives if we were caught. I took a quick look at Harry, I could see she was tiring. I begged her to run, urging her onwards. My little sister was the only thing in the world I had left, and I wouldn't let anyone take her away from me.

They were getting closer.

We should have left earlier, left the bodies to burn in the street, we could morn our loss later. The anger continued to boil and bubble inside of me, I should have known. I should have taken charge, made Harry leave sooner. I didn't want to be morning another member of my family, so I sped up pulling Harry along behind me.  
>I knew I had to look, to assess the situation; the army wasn't so bad, they worked for the government who were trying to help, or so I wanted to believe. But people said they ran camps; intense labour where very few escaped. Many died.<br>Snatchers were by far worse, they tempted girls off the streets. Luring them in to 'safe houses' with promises of food, water and shelter. But in reality these houses were where... the unimaginable happened.  
>The likelihood that our followers were gang members, such as Sector 4, or Crawlers was lower now. Firstly the crowd behind us sounded loud, I listened for a moment, 3 maybe 4 vehicles too many for a standard Crawler group. Secondly we lived... HAD lived in sector 6, Sector 4 was by far the largest gang and only they would be able to afford cars let alone 4 for a small patrol. Extending territory possibly? Highly unlikely, they'd have to cross Sector 5 first and since the last trading day last Saturday there had been no movement, it was basically impossible a whole Sector could be over thrown silently in a week. So that narrowed it down to the army and Snatchers. I suddenly regretted looking to much in to the situation...<br>I forced myself to look behind me, my heart sank immediately as I saw they were snatchers. Mostly men, a large troop, they were on a gathering hunt going by the number of vehicles and number of people. They'd take Harry, by force if they had to, but they'd leave me, I wasn't needed in their 'grand plan'. They'd strip me of my life though; tearing everything off me that was even nearly trade able then they'd leave me bruised, bloody and naked in the dirt. I felt sick to the stomach, how had people come to this?

"Stop now, stop and turn around, or we'll be forced to shoot you" A growling voice called through a crackling speakerphone. I looked at Harry again, to see her face stained with tears, she was shaking her whole body trembled with each breath. She managed to look up at me, nodding as we ran faster. I began to glance around there had to be a side alley, a back street, another road. There had to be a way out.

"We don't want to hurt you!" Cried the speakerphone "We want to help you, stop running"  
>"Lie's" My mind screamed at me, I searched the street praying for a way out. Some way to get away from the ugly future that was chasing us. It was then Harry pulled me left towards an alley way as soon as we began to move I heard the sound of bullets flying though the air.<p>

Then there was pain.

Hot white pain coursing though me. Darkness pooled in to my eyes, my head span the blood rushing in my ears. My left shoulder ached, my hand reached up instinctively towards it grasping on to it only made the pain worse.  
>Next thing I remembered was being collapsed in the alley way next to Harry, my hands stained in blood. Shaking I looked up at Harry, her lips were moving but I could hear no words coming out, my ears were ringing filled with noise which blocked out anything else. My eyes drooped, I was so tired. There was so much pain, I wanted to scream. I think I did at one point.<p>

"John?" My little sister touched my face gently, her hands trembled at she lifted my head forcing me to look at her  
>"John, can you hear me?"<br>I mumbled, the words couldn't form in my mouth instead they tumbled out scattering in the air. Harry stared at me for a moment; it was then I realized.

She was my baby sister, Harriet Watson my pain in the ass little sister, the only thing I had left in this world that was spiraling out of control in front of my eyes. I felt dizzy, my head light and my heart heavy. I felt as if I was being ripped apart, my head wanted to float away in to the dull grey sky, away from the burning infected rubble which this world had become. My heart wanted to sink, to crash and bury its self in to the dirt, dig its way right through to the center of the earth where it would stay burning in the core of the earth crushed to shreds by the gravity and heat. I clung on to Harry feeling the world slip away from me, I welcomed it wishing myself in to the bliss which I could feel entering my body, I wanted the pain to go; the agony in my shoulder to evaporate in to nothingness; the sorrow of loosing my family, my friends, my home, my world; the failure of myself as a brother, son and friend. I smiled as I let my emotions and memories flood me. Happiness, sadness, regret, excitement, anger, fear. I let them take over my body and hide the pain which was exploding from my shoulder. My heart beat was irregular, as if it couldn't decide how if felt, if it wanted to let go or not and my breathing was slower now, ragged breaths which crackled as they flew through my wind pipe. My eyelids fell shut filling my mind with darkness I felt the warmth of Harry beside me.

I wanted to let go...


End file.
